Filthy Beautiful Lies: Volume 1

Pretty good, with reservations... I generally LOVE Kendall Ryan so I'm not at all opposed to reading and/or buying her books but this one lacked a certain umph! While the characters were interesting I didn't get the kind of story I though I would based on the blurb. I also didn't know there was a cliffhanger. I generally don't mind cliffs if I know going in but to expect something/anything to happen and the ending was pretty much false advertising. Not particularly erotic.

3.5 stars — I totally thought from the premise of the book that this one would be more erotica-ish. But it wasn’t really. Sure, it was an unconventional romance, but I wouldn’t say the steam was any higher than other adult romances. I was intrigued by the book, but I wasn’t wholly sucked in. I enjoyed the chemistry between Sophie and Colton, but I also grew frustrated knowing that a willful misunderstanding was about to occur…it was heavily foreshadowed. So just over halfway through, I started to become curious and looked at some reviews…only to learn that it’s not a series of standalones…or not quite anyways. Sophie and Colton’s story completes in book 2. Which is fine, though I wish I’d known beforehand, b/c I might have chosen a different book to read. By the time I got to the end, I was torn. The next book was a bit more than I wanted to spend, and while I was morbidly curious how it would end, I wasn’t sure if I was full price curious, you know? And after reading some reviews for the next book, I’ve decided not to continue…I just don’t think I’m invested enough to read another full book with these two. Both characters had good qualities and surprised me in good ways, but I also just didn’t feel invested in either of them. It’s a weird set of feelings, you know? I believed that Sophie had altruistic qualities wrt her sister, and I appreciated that she also understood that it was nice to have a break from that serious situation. But she also had a very strange attitude considering the nature of her relationship with Colton…she was suspicious, and demanding, and…it was just odd. Meanwhile Colton talks about all these odd sexual proclivities, and quite frankly I kept waiting. And I’m not always big when authors hint at some secret, but drags it out for the book. I’m not saying it’s wrong, it’s just not my personal preference. So we’re told over and over again that Colton has some dark secret, and while I did guess after awhile, I was kind of confused about how it fit with what Colton was thinking at the beginning. Then there’s the two of them together, and the way the relationship developed. I don’t know if I quite understood the feelings they developed, and the quickness of it. It’s a strange situation, and I guess I just didn’t always buy how that went. But hooboy, the steamy scenes were AMAZING. Even if it didn’t go where I expected, there was definitely great physical chemistry. So yeah…*sigh* I enjoyed myself, I just wasn’t as compelled as I was expecting. *shrugs* Ah well.

What a great start to a series I hadn't known I needed. The chemistry is amazing but it is a slow burn you need to come prepared. There were moments where I wanted Colton and Sophie to speed it up because we needed to get to the steamy part. I can't wait to read the rest now.